The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed the Build Back Better Act, which includes the largest-ever federal investment in fighting the climate crisis. The $2.2 trillion spending package includes $555 billion in spending to encourage the transition away from fossil fuels, The New York Times reported, but the legislation still needs to pass the […]
The world’s two biggest climate polluters announced a surprise agreement at COP26 Wednesday. The agreement was light on details but was significant nonetheless, and seen as a potentially positive signal of U.S.-China relations. The two countries will take “enhanced climate actions” and “raise ambition in the 2020s” toward keeping the global warming limits central to […]
In the latest announcement to come out of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, a group of nations, automakers and local governments have pledged to ensure that all new cars are zero emission by 2040 worldwide, and no later than 2035 in “leading markets.” The “COP26 declaration on accelerating the transition to 100% zero emission […]
By Jake Johnson A new COP26 draft decision text unveiled Wednesday was roundly panned by climate campaigners as badly inadequate to the task of slashing global greenhouse gas emissions, which are pushing the planet toward a catastrophic 2.4°C of warming by the end of the century. “This draft deal is not a plan to solve […]
The largest delegation at COP26 represents the fossil fuel industry that profits from the climate crisis, according to an analysis from Global Witness. More than 500 lobbyists from over 100 fossil fuel companies are in Glasgow. There are more fossil fuel lobbyists at COP26 than there are delegates from Puerto Rico, Myanmar, Haiti, the Philippines, […]
Mark Hertsgaard This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. GLASGOW, SCOTLAND — “I’d feel ridiculous if I weren’t here,” said Tom Birch, a teacher from Edinburg, as he carried a sign reading “Soon Humanity Will Be Net-Zero.” Birch was among the many tens of […]
Forty-five countries including the UK pledged Saturday to protect nature and transition to more sustainable farming. The announcement was made on Nature and Land Use day at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, which the UK is hosting, and comes with a promise to use more than $4 billion in public sector investments to make […]
Mark Hertsgaard This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The author is CCNow’s co-founder and executive director. Some of the best news out of Glasgow so far is that the U.S. media is finally paying serious attention to the climate crisis. We’ll see if […]
The Great Barrier Reef is in trouble. It has experienced five mass bleaching events since 1998, three of them in the last five years. Now, new research published in Current Biology Thursday finds that only two percent of the reef escaped some bleaching during that time. “This is one of the most confronting results of […]